Tag Archives: French grammar
French Grammar vs. English Grammar: Passive Voice Exceptions Posted by Hichem on Oct 4, 2012
It is an undeniable fact: English grammar is way more flexible (and in a way more “relaxed”) than its French counterpart. But that, of course, is not necessarily a French disadvantage: It is no pure coincidence that French has always been celebrated as “the language of clarity and precision”, and was for many centuries the…
How to Understand French Pronominal Verbs Posted by Hichem on Sep 27, 2012
Les verbes pronominaux are usually easily recognizable: They are accompanied by a pronoun which agrees with the subject. These pronouns can be: me te se nous vous For example, take the verb se nourrir, which is another way to say manger (to eat), similar to the English verb to nourish, to feed (oneself.) You would say…
How to Conjugate the French Verb Pardonner (To Forgive) Posted by Hichem on Sep 7, 2012
There are many ways to say “I am sorry” in French: The quickest way would be “pardon” (“sorry”), “pardonnez-moi” (“forgive me”), or “je suis désolé” (“I am sorry.”) But you can also say “je vous demande pardon” (“I apologize”), “je vous présente mes excuses“, “Je vous prie de m’excuser” (“I beg your pardon”), or in…
French Grammar: Transitive Verbs of Two Objects Posted by Hichem on Aug 20, 2012
You are already familiar with transitive verbs, meaning verbs that require an object. Now meet the less known breed called “ditransitive verbs.” It may sound complicated at first, but once you know what it stands for, it suddenly becomes très facile: As their name says, these are verbs which need one direct object and one additional object introduced by…
French Grammar: How to Use the Pronoun “On” Posted by Hichem on Aug 13, 2012
It’s time to turn French Grammar “ON” again here on the Transparent French Blog! And what a coincidence it is, because today you’ll be given a few precious pointers as to how to use the indefinite French pronoun “On“, which, as we know very well, can often cause some serious headache to the débutants learners of…
Comme vs. Comment in French Posted by Adir on Jul 16, 2012
Comme and comment are two similar words but are used differently. Let’s learn today how to use one or the other. Comme 1. Comme is used as a conjunction with the meaning of “as” and “since”. Le téléphone a sonné juste comme j’entrais dans mon appartement. [The phone was ringing as I was entering my…
How to say “I’m doing” in French Posted by Adir on Jul 13, 2012
Salut! Comment ça va? French doesn’t have a specific verb tense to say sentences like these: What are you doing? –> I’m doing my homework. What’s he doing? –> He’s cleaning his car. We have two ways of saying this. The first one is to use the present tense: Qu’est-ce que tu fais? Je fais…